INFLUENCE OF THE STORAGE-CONDITIONS ON SOME PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND MYCOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF HONEY

The authors studied the changes in yeast and mould counts, pH, free an d lactone acidity, colour and sugar composition undergone by honeys wi th water contents of 169, 188 and 220 g kg(-1) on storage at refrigera tion temperature (4-7 degrees C), room temperature and 28 degrees C fo r two years. Of the solid culture media assayed, honey agar and osmoph ilic medium fostered yeast growth while malt-extract agar and yeast-ex tract-malt-extract agar allowed for better development of filamentous fungi. The yeasts isolated belonged to the genera Saccharomyces, Schiz osaccharomyces and Zygosaccharomyces, while filamentous moulds were of the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium and Alternaria. The hon eys studied underwent no visible microbial alternations under any of t he conditions tested, although yeast population increased significantl y with time. Free and lactone acidity increased slightly but the pH wa s practically constant. The honeys darkened gradually with time, the e ffect increasing with the storage temperature. The analysis of various sugars carried out by capillary column gas chromatography of their tr imethylsilyloxime derivatives indicated that all of them changed signi ficantly after 2 years. Levels of fructose, glucose, sucrose, maltose, kojibiose, isomaltose and trisaccharides decreased with time whereas those of maltulose and turanose increased over the same period.